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Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels across country in my mobile billboard truck as I attempt to engage in dialogue with people in hopes to wake us up and inspire action to change our country and communities and selves. And it is froth with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society and life we want

Sunday, March 03, 2013

What Can I Do???

I knowI’ve written about this before but tonite, I was
at a gathering where we were defining and discussing our country’s evils when someone asked,
once again, but “what can I do about it?”

I did not respond with my normal
either 1)“that is not really the whole question you are asking” – the whole question is what can I do WITHOUT
changing my life style, WITHOUT it costing me too much, WITHOUT having to stop
my life-as-usual or sacrifice anything; or 2) that is not really the question –
the real question is “what to I WANT
to do about it?

Instead I decided to directly
answer that ‘can’ question and began listing the concrete things we
could/should be doing:

Never buy anything new (except toilet paper
maybe)

Never buy ANYTHING in PLASTIC!

Only buy organic – if you can’t ‘afford’
organic, you can’t afford to buy it

The least we can do is recycle (which of course
begins with not buying things that are in containers needing recycling or throwing
out), conserve resources

Make connections, conscious choices where you
spend your money: NO corporate buying (including fuel, food, etc.); support
womyn especially with children, men of color

Share your resources, privileges, access to
necessities

Get rid of ‘things’ around your home, in your
life

Open your living space to others, live
cooperatively, live where you can walk, bike, public transport to what you need

Make money doing something you love, something
meaningful, something sustainable, something that does not contribute to the
genocide of people and destruction of the mother earth

Spend a minimum of three hours a day doing
actions working for change

Meet with your critical thinking/action
community group weekly to really develop and this list, while we figure out
together how really to work together for change

Which then brings us to what do I
WANT to do?

And who can blame us for not
wanting to change our lives as usual? After all, we are ‘told’ – inundated,
hammered over the head, reminded in every book, every lesson, every moment of
our waking lives really – that we need a career, a house in the country,
children, success as measured in how many things we own, how many years of education we have, what we can buy, etc.

We are taught not only that we
need these things, but that we deserve the things we get, that we have somehow
worked hard, studied harder, and are the ‘special’ people who are granted the
knowing that we will obtain the security of stuff.

But perhaps the biggest ‘disservice’
at best, destruction of our humanity closer to the truth, is our shared belief
in this country that it is not only okay to have more then others, but it is desirable
as well as deservable.

Few want to own that we have
whatever we have because this country is carefully shaped to ensure what
everyone has (or doesn’t have).

Fewer still want to own that
EVERYTHING we have in this country, we have because of killing people, enslaving people, occupying and stealing other people's lands and lives - and we continue doing the same. We are currently attacking at least 6 countries in the world, have over 1000 military bases that we know about, and spend as much on our military as every single nation TOGETHER spends on their militaries.

Even those of us who live 'frugally' or consciously, still have access to the empire, whether we like it or not: the asphalt on the roads, the access to food 24/7, electricity - etc.etc.etc.

I say this not to encourage depression or helplessness or futility - but to inspire us into ACTION; for it is only when we ACT against war, militarism, all the isms that we will find true wealth, true peace, true spirituality, our true paths.

About Me

i'm now a 67, almost 68 (who am I kidding almost fuckin 70!!!) yr old (still with a golden age pass to get into national parks FREE) jewish lesbian anti-racist mother - and grandmother - striving radical womonist/feminist; daughter & granddaughter of survivors of the holocaust, mother of a young amazon healer & amazing human being, lover of wimmin & student of conscious living............even tho i am the one actually driving the truck, i could not even head out from home if it were not for the support of many, many, many wimmin (and several men as well). i am now working on trying to publish my book "But What Can I Do? A Handbook for change: myself, my community, my country. I still continue to offer Racism Awareness workshops geared for White people, NO DRONES workshops, and any other that is needed. if you want to help support this journey, email me!